Cancer patients face delays, shortage at Chandigarh's Sector 48 hospital

Even as the union territory administration continues its efforts to strengthen the cancer hospital in Chandigarh Sector 48, patients at the healthcare facility suffer from a system riddled with delays, unpredictability, and infrastructural shortcomings.

- GNS News Agency

Meant to decongest the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32 as well as decentralise oncology services, the South Campus hospital appears to have shifted the burden onto patients instead. For many, the most pressing issue remains the erratic functioning of OPD (outpatient department) services. “We have been visiting the hospital for two days, but there is no certainty about the OPD schedule. Sometimes the doctor is available, sometimes not. Nobody tells us anything,” a woman, accompanying her husband for chemotherapy, said on the condition of anonymity. She fears “speaking up against the hospital authority may lead to further delayed/ denied care”. Amidst limited diagnostic services at the hospital, patients are also forced to turn to private laboratories.